Earnan Finian
Earnan Finian is an elderly Sinlarine shaman, the brother of Nuala Finian and Odhran Finian, and the uncle of Irvin, Kendra, Corwin and Deidra of the Finian Clan. He is the caretaker of Cailleach Bheur and has ties to the Red Sun Coven. He ended up chatting and exchanging words of wisdom with a few members of the Fellowship of Hidefall, most notably Arcturius and Gilgamesh, as well as explaining the contents of the Lament of the Stormborn to Erikur Spald in Trinity Gask. He also briefly interacted with Axikasha Keiran before he and Beira were taken captive by the Crimson Coalition. Biography Early Years Earnan Finian was born to the Finian Clan, a family of Sinlarine shamans in Libaterra. He, along with his siblings Odhran Finian and Nuala Finian, carried on the Sinlarine traditions, as they travelled on their separate paths. However, Earnan had always been interested in other aspects of the arcane, which led him to meet representatives of the Red Sun, a coven of witches, in Ciano. The young shaman apprentice eventually ended up meeting and talking to Mother Superior, the mysterious leader of the Coven, who taught him that there were other paths than just shamanism and that to understand the world, one would have to understand everything about it, the good and the bad, and how there were several shades of grey in between. The shaman and the witch made love that night and through that act Earnan had finally become a full shaman. Mother Superior explained that their fates had been written and from now on he would be her Vedmak, a sorcerer who would protect witches in need of protection. Earnan was changed by his encounter and could no longer fully relate to the rest of his clan. His path had diverged too much from theirs and understood they had different destinies ahead of them. He did his best to keep in touch with his nephews and nieces whenever they happened by, but he had grown distant to them, so they rarely visited him. He spent this time travelling around the world, visiting obscure magical sites such as the ruined Temple of Storms. One of his nieces, Kendra Finian, eventually joined the Red Sun with Mother Superior's blessing much to Earnan's surprise, but he still provided her with enough information whenever she came to visit him. Distreyd Era Agenf of the Coven During the Yamatian Invasion of Libaterra, Earnan was tasked by the Red Sun to aid the Rebels in holding Trinity Gask a while longer so the Coven could secure important tomes from the besieged city before Yamato overran it. Earnan, disguising himself with a hood, came to negotiate with General Chouwa Kyouko but surprised the general when he explained that his real reason of coming had been to warn him about a catastrophe which would befall his army if he continued attacking Trinity Gask. Kyouko laughed Earnan off, boasting about Yamatian superiority, but Earnan had the last laugh when the combined forces of the Rebels and the Red Sun agents rained arrows and spells on the prideful Yamatians, catching them by surprise. Earnan retreated into Trinity Gask and helped the Red Sun finish its mission before they departed from the city. Trinity Gask fell to the Yamatians some weeks later once the Yamatians had received reinforcements from their homeland. Path of Winter When the Great War raged between Yamato and the Grand Alliance, Earnan was busy. He had secured several tomes and also interacted with a pair consisting of a warlock and a witch, the latter who was very important to him. He witnessed several tragedies in the last years of the war when he saw the horrors of the Reactor Core Explosion which decimated Lutherin, and the Faerfolc Rampage which devastated much of Libaterra. His brother Odhran along with his wife Seadhna Finian made what Earnan would end up referring to as the 'ultimate sacrifice', which helped sate the Faerfolc's bloodlust and make the fey end their rampage. The warlock and the witch who had been travelling with Earnan died around the same time. However, the witch had given birth to a healthy baby girl whom she named Cailleach Bheur and entrusted her to Earnan's care before passing away. Earnan would raise the white-haired Child of Winter, whom he sometimes called Beira, as his own. He became her Vedmak in the process and taught her about Sinlarine customs, shamanism and about her heritage in the Coven. He grew fond of her over the years but kept his feelings in check. Godslayer Era Dark Times More info later. Giving Advice When Earnan heard of a commotion in the central plaza of Trinity Gask, he went there to see what was going on. What he saw were two young men with red hair, the O'Harris brothers, trying to rally a mob to go with them to Survivor's Woods to save people who they claimed had been kidnapped by a witch. Earnan was skeptical about the boys' accusations but stayed and listened to their speech. He was then approached by a Erikur Spald, a blacksmith who wanted to ask him about the [[Stormborn. Earnan, curious of why a blacksmith would be interested in old history, nevertheless told him what he knew, especially after Erikur revealed that he had been to the Temple of the Storms and heard a voice in there, which made Earnan reminisce back when he had visited the same site with 'someone special' in his younger years. Earnan also told Erikur about the strange stanzas of the Lament of the Stormborn and about the odd yet seemingly meaningful phrase 'Eyes of the Storm' before he suddenly realized that another phrase in the song, 'the wail of the ancient willow', could very much refer to Survivor's Woods where the O'Harrises had claimed to have fought giant spiders and escaped from a witch. These connections troubled Earnan, and he suggested that Erikur stay away from the forest although he chose not to interfere in case the blacksmith wanted to do his own thing anyway. Chaos suddenly descended in the city when a group of nymphs appeared and attacked people, kidnapping a few and taking them to the forest while the guards seemed oddly helpless against these creatures who had somehow managed to infiltrate the city. The conflict became personal to Earnan when he saw Beira falling unconscious in the nymph attack; he recognized that she was under the effect of Dreamshade and decided to take her to safety while pondering if the prophetic words once said to him by his beloved meant that the time had come for the Plan to finally come into fruition. Aliases and Nicknames ; Elder : What many Sinlarine call him due to his age and knowledge of shamanism. ; Vedmak : What he is called in the Red Sun because of his role as the guardian of his Vedma, Cailleach Bheur. Appearance An elderly man with white hair and a rugged face. He's clad in the purple clothing of the Finian Clan. Personality and Traits Calm, polite and wise, he rarely seems to show any passions and always acts like a responsible and knowledgeable shaman who wants to protect those under his care. Powers and Abilities Earnan can talk to the dead as many Sinlarine can, and he's a skilled shaman with some knowledge of witchcraft. Relationships Cailleach Bheur Earnan acts as Beira's caretaker, guardian and mentor in matters of shamanism and knowledge of the world in general. They share a close bond although occasionally Beira argues with Earnan about his careful actions. It was thanks to Earnan that Beira got to know the Finian Clan and eventually befriended many of its members. Mother Superior Earnan met Mother Superior, the leader of the Coven, as a young shaman apprentice, and fell in love with her. They ended up having an intimate relationship in both a physical and intellectual level, which made Earnan question the path of his clan and eventually made him side with the Coven while keeping his new allegiance a secret. See also *Cailleach Bheur *Finian Clan *Mother Superior *Red Sun Category:Characters Category:Finian Clan Category:Humans Category:Libaterra Category:Red Sun Category:Third Age